TomVH: An Interview with DB Anthony Standifer

There was recently some confusion about whether or not Illinois DB Anthony Standifer (6'1", 178 lbs) had actually received a Michigan offer or not. At first his coach had told him he did receive the offer, but it was later found that there was a miscommunication. Anthony told me that he spoke with the Michigan coaches today and they got everything cleared up. He says that the coaches have told him his offer is pending on his camp performance, and they will also be out to see him in the next two weeks.

By the sound of that it seems like he could very well have an offer soon. Here's a look at his highlight film and how he feels about Michigan.

TOM: Were you surprised to hear from Michigan this early on?

ANTHONY: Yeah I was very shocked and surpised when my coach told me. There are a lot of schools that are telling me they want to offer me once they see me in person at camp.

TOM: What other offers do you have right now?

ANTHONY: Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan, and Akron right now. I'm also hearing from Boise State, I just got an email from Oregon, and Iowa.

TOM: You're from the midwest so I'm assuming you are familiar with Michigan?

ANTHONY: Oh yes, I'm a fan of Michigan. My favorite corner Charles Woodson went there. The atmosphere at the stadium is crazy.

TOM: WIth Michigan contacting you so soon, does that mean anything to you? Does a school have a better chance if they start recruiting you earlier?

ANTHONY: Yeah, it shows that they have a high level of interest in me which is nice. They told me that they're going to be coming out to the school in the next two weeks so they're serious about it. I'm going to go visit the campus and meet the coaching staff sometime in May, probably the first week.

TOM: I know it's all really early, but where would Michigan stand with you if you were to get that offer

ANTHONY: Very high. Michigan is the best school to me. I look at it as an honor to wear a Michigan jersey.

TOM: You've been called a sleeper prospect, and for anyone that doesn't know a lot about you what kind of corner are you?

ANTHONY: I have good size, I'm fast for my size, good at finding the ball, I have good enough hands to be a receiver if I wanted to be, but I still have a lot of room for improvement.

TOM: Do you know how your recruitment is going to play out yet?

ANTHONY: I haven't decided yet, I'm just going to take it day by day for now.

Looks like he has good ball skill cant really tell if he has the speed and quickness to play CB but maybe put on some good weight and play safety. On another note his teams black jerseys are pretty ugly.

Great highlight video, especially the open field tackling. He also sounds very high on Michigan, great job by Hoke and crew on getting in on him early!! Hope to see him in Maize and Blue!! Great job Tom!!

He doesn't seem to be very fast. Against that kind of competition he should really look like he's a track star. That kind of scares me. Also, he's not afraid to hit but he doesn't really do it with any suddenness.

I encourage you to go back and take a look at Donovan Warren's high school highlights. Different school, different part of the country, I know...but he didn't look like a track star either.

Also...it seems like you're expecting Steve Atwater-type hits out of a cornerback. I don't think anyone's saying he will destroy runners on a regular basis. But for a cornerback, getting the runner to the ground is the main priority. If he can do that with consistency, he's got a leg up on lots of players.

Maybe this is because of the whole Mattison/Ravens connection, but the first person I thought of when I saw Standifer's tape was Chris McAlister. He's a big, physical corner who might not be the fastest guy, but who has good ball skills and will come up and tackle.

And if Cullen Christian is leaving while they throw out an offer (potentially) to a kid like this, then that might tell you where the direction of recruiting is headed.

And I know people might be slightly concerned about his 40 time, but keep in mind that Donovan Warren ran a 4.68 at the NFL Combine. I know Warren didn't get drafted, but he was a pretty solid college corner without blazing speed. I think we could all settle for some more corners with Donovan Warren speed if it means they'll play good football.

Does the level of competition he's playing against concern you at all? It's not like these highlights are other-worldly. I'm not saying he doesn't look like a good player, rather he looks like a MAC level player. Luckily, he doesn't have to impress me. Do you think he'd be better off at safety? Size, ball skills, mediocre speed,aggressive- sounds like a safety to me.

The level of competition concerns me slightly, but not too much. According to Wikipedia, his school has 1,436 students. That's not a huge school, but it's not tiny, either. One can only assume that the schools he's playing against have similar populations. I don't see a ton of athleticism around him, but he's clearly a superior athlete and 9 interceptions in one season is pretty good, no matter who you're up against.

I don't think he's the country's #1 recruit, but I'm definitely intrigued by him. He's more than a MAC-level recruit, IMO.

It just doesn't look like anyone he's playing against has talent and his play in the tape is not really that spectacular. He's definitely solid and I'd be happy if we landed him, but I'm not blown away.

Track speed is nice but a lot of times it doesn't translate to the field. Knowing where to be and taking good angles will more than compensate for a slower 40 time. Paralysis by analysis is common when you don't have football smarts.

I'm the captain of criticizing high school recruits, but maybe we should reserve any scathing remarks for kids who put their highlight tapes on the internet. It's one thing to criticize Standifer, who clearly wants to be recruited and wants people to see his tape.

It's another thing to insult one of his teammates, whose only sin is wanting to play high school football. Imagine if you're #43 or #43's parents, who happen to be interested in Standifer's recruitment and stumble across this comment.

My bad, you're right. Just bugged me the way the kid would lower his head, looks like he could get a serious neck injury. I'm really not that type of person to criticize. I play minor league football and we have a few guys that shouldn't be out there but I've never had a problem with them and I really enjoy the support they bring.

It will be interesting how much passion he has for UM once he gets other offers that are comparable. I'm not saying it will change, but if I had offers from 5 MAC schools and Michigan was interested, I'd be a pretty big Michigan fan too.

If he doesn't get any other offers that are close, then I guess that's another issue.

Is he on for this years class? It seems strange that with only 18 spots to fill and very few DB offers and 2 solid prospects likely to commit already that they'd go after another when DB's are leaving because they're too many of them to begin with. He has good ball-hawking skills and is 6-1 so he wouldn't bebad if he really wants to be here but there might not be room for him.